After a sleepless night, Simon dragged himself to his first-period Hemomancy class looking utterly drained. He tried to copy the notes from the blackboard, but the words swam before his eyes, splitting into three blurry images.
’Did I overdo it last night?’ he wondered.
As he drifted off, Meirin nudged him with her elbow. "Hey. What’s wrong with you?"
"...I pulled an all-nighter. Guess I’m not feeling my best."
Meirin sighed softly. She pulled the bag from her desk onto her lap, rummaged inside, and produced a small white bottle.
"Here, open up."
"What is it?"
"A fatigue recovery pill," she explained. "It’s what I take on days like this. Now, open wide."
Simon awkwardly opened his mouth, and she flicked a single pill inside with her fingertips.
"Don’t bite down on it. It’s incredibly potent. If it bursts, the whole classroom will stink." Meirin then pulled a water bottle from her bag and handed it to him.
Simon nodded his thanks, twisted the cap open, and gulped it down.
When he glanced over, he saw a faint blush coloring Meirin’s cheeks, her expression strangely tense.
"What’s the matter?"
"Oh, I don’t know! Just drink it before the TAs see!"
Simon took a careful sip and swallowed the pill. "Thanks, Meirin."
Taking the bottle back, Meirin turned away, flustered. Just then, Dick, who was sitting behind them, leaned his head between them.
"Oh, my! You scared me!" Meirin yelped.
"Heh heh, I heard it all, I heard it all," Dick sang, clearly gearing up for some teasing.
Meirin instinctively growled. "Hey, don’t you dare."
"Don’t what?"
"I don’t know what, but just don’t!"
Dick pulled back with a shrug and turned to Kamibarez, who was diligently taking notes. "Kami."
"Yes, Dick?"
"Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering... if a conversation between a guy and a girl involved the phrases ‘open up’ and ‘open wide,’ what kind of situation do you think that would be?"
Kamibarez’s cheeks flared crimson. Meirin, whose face was burning even brighter, started whacking Dick over the head with her notebook.
"Hey, you absolute psycho!"
"Ow! Ow! Why are you hitting me? I was just stating the facts—!"
"Simon!" Kamibarez cried, her voice trembling. "Y-You shouldn’t say things like that! We’re still minors! And...!"
Simon looked utterly wronged. ‘All I did was sit here and take a pill. Why am I getting scolded?’
"Students over there..."
The singsong voice cut through the air, and the group froze, turning their heads. A teaching assistant had appeared out of nowhere, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, a placid smile on his face.
"Finished with your notes before you started chatting, have we...?" he asked, his tone saccharine, as if he were addressing small children.
"U-Uhh! We were just—" Meirin began.
"On your feet. All four of you."
In the end, they were all marched to the back of the classroom.
"Arms straight up, touching your ears... Yes, just like that. I’ll get angry if you try to slack off, you know?"
Even his punishments had a strangely cute quality to them. The moment the TA walked away, Meirin shot a death glare at Dick.
"This is so embarrassing! It’s all your fault!"
"Hey, I was only stating the facts..."
"Please don’t fight!" Kamibarez pleaded. "We’ll get in trouble again!"
Meanwhile, Simon was staring at the blackboard. His vision had cleared. Whether it was the pill finally kicking in or the punishment jolting him awake, his drowsiness had vanished.
"Meirin."
"Yeah?"
"That pill you gave me works great."
At his compliment, she instantly brightened, a smug look on her face. "Hmph, of course! This stuff is super expen—"
"Pill? What pill?" Dick interjected.
"You just shut up," Meirin snapped.
Just then, another of Professor Silage’s TAs hurried into the room.
"Professor Silage will be about twenty minutes late!" he announced, checking his watch. "We’ll be taking our break a little early. You have until the thirty-minute mark."
The quiet classroom erupted into chatter. With the break officially starting, Simon and his friends were free to return to their seats.
"Hold on, everyone. Over here for a sec." Dick gestured, and the other three paused. They gathered in a quiet corner of the room.
"Ugh, what is it now?" Meirin grumbled.
"I was going to wait until lunch, but since we have time, I’ll tell you now."
Dick pulled a folded note from his inner jacket pocket. "Heh, I’ve got intel on your dueling evaluation opponents. Let’s start with you, Simon. It’s the most urgent."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You were planning on using a Skeleton Archer for the duel, right?"
Simon nodded.
"You should scrap that plan immediately."
"Why?"
"I can’t be one hundred percent certain, but it’s a terrible matchup," Dick said, his voice turning serious as he read from the note. "Your opponent is Haren Cork, from a notorious necromancer family in the Oldwin Kingdom. The black magic he uses is called Black Hand."
"Black Hand? Never heard of it."
Meirin, however, narrowed her eyes. "It must be a unique family magic."
"Correct," Dick confirmed. "Basically, he summons a hand made of Jet-Black from his back. It’s said to have outstanding defense against ranged projectiles—it can casually swat away even high-speed Jet-Black arrows."
Simon bit his lip. If it could deflect even Jet-Black arrows...
"There’s a high probability the Skeleton Archer’s arrows won’t get through, Simon."
Simon suppressed a groan. He was committed to Summoning, but he wasn’t so stubborn as to press on with a clear disadvantage.
As Simon weighed his options, Dick continued, "The Black Hand is a powerful tool for both offense and defense, but it has a glaring weakness. While Haren maintains it, he can’t use any other black magic."
"Ah, if that’s the case, the strategy is obvious!" Kamibarez’s eyes lit up. "Curses!"
"Yeah, that’s right," Meirin agreed. "If both ranged and melee attacks are a problem, you just keep your distance and stack curses to weaken him. It’s an easy win. You could just practice Exhaust for the rest of the time." Simon leaned against the wall, lost in thought.
He had finally found his passion while building the Skeleton Archer, only to have this variable thrown at him. It seemed nothing ever went according to plan.
’What should I do?’ Time was running out. Should he force the issue with the Skeleton Archer? Or should he abandon his resolve and practice curses?
Or perhaps...
A sharp, intelligent light gleamed in Simon’s eyes.
The days flew by, and soon the dueling evaluation was only a day away. Meirin arrived at the classroom early, yawning as she slumped into her chair. A group of students was already there, chatting animatedly about the upcoming duels.
"Ugh, I’m so nervous. How am I supposed to fight a Combat Magic major?"
"I heard Professor Bahil’s Leg Down curse is a perfect counter!"
"I’m most scared of the Venomology kids. They just keep chipping away at your barrier gauge..."
"Haaa, I just hope I don’t get matched with anyone from Cursology."
Meirin scoffed under her breath. They were better off training than worrying about opponents and matchups. If you were strong and confident, that was all that mattered. She was clicking her tongue and pulling out her textbook when a voice startled her.
"...Hey, Meirin."
"Whoa!"
She whipped her head around to see Simon, his face gaunt and shadowed by deep, dark circles. He offered a weary smile.
"You look great today, Meirin. Did you do something new to your hair?"
Meirin scowled. ‘Why is he acting so out of character?’ "Who told you to say that?"
"Dick."
"Ugh, seriously."
Hearing Simon mimic Dick’s flattery was unsettling. It just didn’t suit him.
"Whatever. Why are you buttering me up? Spit it out."
"...Pill, please."
"Hmph."
Meirin grumbled but handed him the bottle from her bag. After taking the pill, some clarity seemed to return to his eyes.
"You know, watching you makes me more anxious than you are," she said. "What’s gotten into you lately?"
"Preparing for the duel."
Meirin frowned. "Yeah, I get that. It’s good that you’re working hard, but you’re going to collapse at this rate. This pill isn’t some miracle cure, you know. Even I only take it occasionally."
"I just need to hold out until the duel tomorrow."
"...You’re insane."
A moment later, class began, but Simon’s condition only deteriorated. He couldn’t focus, scribbling nonsense in his notebook and muttering to himself.
"Dick! What in the world is wrong with him?" Meirin finally whispered, unable to take it anymore.
Dick ran a hand through his hair, looking just as troubled. "I don’t know. He barely comes back to the room these days. Most mornings, he’s already gone when I wake up."
Kamibarez, watching with a worried expression, tugged on Dick’s sleeve. "He’s going to collapse! Please do something, Dick!"
"That’s right! You’re his roommate!" Meirin added.
"You think I haven’t tried?" Dick shot back. "The problem is he doesn’t listen to a word I say." He glanced over at Simon. Even during the break, Simon was still hunched over his notebook, scribbling like a madman. He was the very picture of someone so engrossed in a single idea that nothing else could get through. "He’ll probably be like this until the duel is over. I think he’s preparing a new black magic."
"A new black magic?" Meirin scoffed. "What for? He could easily win by just practicing Exhaust for a bit."
"...New magic is fine, but his health should come first," Kamibarez murmured.
Meirin scratched her head in frustration, then her eyes lit up with resolve. "This won’t do. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind."
Dick leaned back, propping his head with his arms. "I wouldn’t bother. Nothing you say will get through to him."
"Just watch me."
Meirin steeled herself and marched over to Simon’s desk. "Hey, Simon! If you keep this up—!"
Simon slowly lifted his head.
’Gasp!’
His eyes were completely unfocused, almost manic. Faced with that sudden, intense glare from a male peer, she felt her confidence waver and stammered, "Y-You’ll ruin your health! I’ve told you so many times...!"
"Thanks for worrying, Meirin. I promise I’ll get a good rest starting tomorrow."
And with that, he turned back to his notebook.
’Th-That’s not what I meant to happen.’
As Meirin stood there, wondering what to say next, Simon shot up from his seat, making her jump with a short scream.
"Dick."
This time, it was Dick who flinched. "Huh? Y-Yeah?"
"The thing I asked for..."
"Ah, news about Professor Aaron? I should know by lunchtime."
"Okay. Thanks." Simon sat back down and resumed his frantic writing, oblivious to the three worried faces staring at him.
Just what kind of black magic was he preparing?
That evening, Professor Aaron was walking through the halls of Kizen. He wasn’t dressed in his usual shabby classroom attire but in the formal Kizen headquarters uniform, complete with a black fur-lined cloak. He looked so different that several servants cleaning the building didn’t even recognize him.
’Exhausting,’ he thought. The mission had ended earlier than expected. Today was supposed to be his day off, but he decided to stop by his lab to prepare for his next class. ‘This is suffocating.’
As he walked, Aaron shrugged off his heavy cloak and loosened his tie. With every step, his attire grew more casual, and the pile of discarded clothing in his arm grew larger. By the time he reached his lab door, having shed layers one by one, he found someone sitting on the floor outside. The figure was hunched over a notebook, muttering to himself, his eyes hollow and sunken.
"Zimon Polentia."
Simon looked up. Seeing the professor, he scrambled to his feet and bowed his head. "Professor Aaron!"
"What are you doing here?"
The Simon he saw now, just a week after their last class, looked gaunt and utterly spent.
"There’s something I absolutely must ask you, Professor," Simon said politely.
Aaron glanced wordlessly at his watch. "Even though I’m off the clock?"
"Oh."
"I’m kidding," Aaron said, a rare smile cracking his stern face. "Rezovling a ztudent’z problemz iz part of a profezzor’z duty. Come in."

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